As mentioned earlier in this introduction, you can take both the INTRO and ICND exams to acquire CCNA certification, or you can take a single CCNA exam. Because of the significantly expanded topics as compared with the previous CCNA exam, there was simply too much material for a single book. So, we simply created two books—one for the INTRO exam and one for the ICND exam.

The contents of the two books, however, were actually designed for both the single-exam and dual-exam audience. For those of you preparing just for the INTRO exam, you can read just this book. Similarly, if you have passed the INTRO exam and you want to study for the ICND exam, you can use just the other book. However, if you are studying for the CCNA exam, you can use both books, and alternate between reading different parts of each book to optomize your effort in preparing for the exam. This introduction includes a reading plan for anyone taking the CCNA exam, directing you on the order in which to read the chapters in the two books. Essentially, you would read the first three parts of this book and then start alternating, reading an entire part of the other book, coming back here for a part, going back to the other book, and so on, for most of the parts of both books. The parts are named so that it is obvious which sections to read as you move between the books. By doing so, you complete all the coverage in a particular technical area before moving on to another.